tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post4287528577818081015..comments2023-06-28T22:58:28.247+10:00Comments on Sixth In Line: Glory be to God for dappled things.Elisabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04015624747225433940noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-10258288492517478232014-01-02T11:47:34.988+11:002014-01-02T11:47:34.988+11:00A Happy New Year from me also.A Happy New Year from me also.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-39353346229147911432014-01-02T07:13:05.655+11:002014-01-02T07:13:05.655+11:00Happy New Year to you too.
As always, enjoyed the...Happy New Year to you too. <br />As always, enjoyed the read.. <br />Anthony Ducehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17476865809734682418noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-8635113092610567172014-01-02T00:59:29.052+11:002014-01-02T00:59:29.052+11:00Happy New Year Elisabeth! Keep writing.Happy New Year Elisabeth! Keep writing.awynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01541564613932885469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-84513082796720941762014-01-02T00:54:40.694+11:002014-01-02T00:54:40.694+11:00Before I started with all this online malarkey I n...Before I started with all this online malarkey I never gave readers a second thought. Until Carrie came along I’d just shoved whatever I’d written in a drawer basically. I wasn’t even sending stuff out anymore. And it didn’t worry me that much because I was writing for me and as long as I was pleased with what I’d done then to hell with everyone else. I still feel pretty much the same. That said I always show Carrie whatever I’ve written and I like to get her rubber stamp of approval but I know when I hand her something it’s good because I don’t write rubbish anymore. I’m perfectly capable of it. I’m just quite good at recognising when something’s not going anywhere and stopping. Time’s too valuable to waste on writing rubbish. <br /><br />Since I’ve been online things have changed and I’m not sure I’m pleased with the direction they’ve headed. Now I’m <i>aware</i> of the existence of readers. I know that what I write is going—eventually—to get bound in a volume and sent out there to be judged and it’s hard not to think: <i>Will my readers like this?</i> That doesn’t mean I’ve thrown the towel in and started writing novels about sparkly vampires but knowing that what I’m writing is going to be read spoils things a bit. Not that I have had many readers. Apart from the first book I think more people have reviewed the books than bought them which is depressing because now my books are products with price tags and that’s really not how I want to think of them. <br /><br />You’re in a different position to me. You won’t be aiming to self-publish. A part of me wishes I’d made more of an effort to find a publisher but now I don’t have the energy. The problem with most publishers is that all they see when they look at a book is merchandise. And the bottom line is that your book is probably not going to attract huge sales. Unless they can figure out a way to market it. When you define yourself as a writer it somehow no longer satisfies when people praise you for the other things in your life you may be good at. From here you look like a great mum, making sure your daughter gets home and all that, but I imagine it’s tempting to devalue these other things because you suspect you might not be a great writer: If I’m not a great writer then I’m not a great person. I want to write ‘Rubbish!’ here but a part of me knows I’m right.<br /><br />I suspect publication for most people is a big let-down. They go along to the release party sip champagne, schmooze and bask in their five minutes in the limelight and then—NEXT PLEASE!—everyone moves on to the next topic of interest because there’s <i>always</i> something new and shiny in the wings ready to distract people. No point whinging about it; that’s life. I wrote a post a few years back about the shelf life of books and it’s scary short. You labour on a book for years but if it doesn’t perform and quickly then it get shelved (surely that should be unshelved?) and something else gets to have a go.<br /><br />Stopping writing is hard though. No book is ever finished. Not in that regard. I remember watching <i>The Man Who Loved Women</i> (the original and one of my all-time favourite films) and there’s a scene where the author is watching his book being typeset during which he asks the woman to change the colour of a dress, from red to blue if I remember correctly. I don’t think there’s one of us who wouldn’t do the same if we could get away with it. We’re not the judges once the book leaves us. It doesn’t have to meet <i>our</i> standards and it’s lucky that most people’s standards are nowhere near as impossible to reach as ours are.<br /><br />I’ll read your book. No matter how it reaches print I’ll read it. I may not be your ideal reader but then again I might be. You never know.<br /><br />Happy New Year by the way. I always forget about stuff like that.Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.com